A Public Affair
by Brookebynature
Summary: America's sweetheart Brooke Davis is fighting hard to save her marriage to basketball star Nathan. But when his married brother and team mate Lucas finds himself falling in love with her, the two embark upon a risky affair with hidden consequences. BL
1. Green Light

**Author- **Emily-Grace Mendes (brookebynature)

**Disclaimer-** I don't own OneTree Hill, or the characters. I own this story, but I stole the title from Jessica Simpson's song.

**A/N- **Okay, so I know I said that my next story would be a 'play the game' sequel, but I worte the first chapter on my computer at school and forgot to save it onto my usb pen. So I'll keep writing for that story, but I can't post until January. So...I thought I'd begin a new story, and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy xxx

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A Public Affair

Chapter 1: Green Light

_It was September when it all began. When she realised that her marriage was going nowhere fast, and when he realised that he was in love with his brother's wife. People say that you always want what you can't have. Lucas Scott maintained that he just wanted her because he loved her._

Brooke Davis smiled into the mirror as she completed her hair style- a sleek updo with loose curls framing her face. Charity balls were common among Manhattan's celebrity scene, and she was beginning to grow tired of them.

"You look beautiful." Nathan purred from behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around Brooke's small waist as he paid his wife more compliments about her hair and her dress and her ass in that dress.

"Thanks" She whispered softly as Nathan helped her with the clasp of her necklace, the same necklace that Lucas and his wife Haley had bought her for her birthday.

Lucas was Nathan's half-brother, looking nothing like him and with opposite personality traits. He had blonde hair, Nathan had dark brown. He was quiet and spent his spare time reading or writing. Nathan loved to socialise and spent his spare time at sports bars or watching ESPN.

Brooke still loved him, she was sure of that. But she was in love with Lucas.

It was now almost November, and the charity Halloween ball, held at the prestigious Crowne Plaza would be offering Brooke a chance to see him, to talk to him without conversations about basketball and team tactics getting in the way.

-

The place was brimming with opulence, decorations spanning the length of the entrance hall and the main reception room as Nathan and Brooke entered, greeted by the usual hoards of paparazzi, who generally resided wherever there was a function.

Being Nathan Scott's wife would usually have granted Brooke celebrity status anyway, but America's sweetheart was a star in her own right. Hailing from small town Tree Hill, Brooke Davis had carved herself one hell of an acting career, and had recently turned her hand to fashion design- her special forte.

They had met through mutual friends, who had thought that Brooke and New York Knicks star Nathan would be the perfect couple. And they were. To everyone who didn't know them.

"Brooke Darling!" She was greeted by air kisses and over-enthusiastic embraces from people she hardly knew. Nathan stood beside her, hands dug deep into his pockets-something Brooke had tried to get him to quit.

"And the devilishly handsome Nathan Scott." They continued their welcoming, Nathan too, unable to escape the many elegant women offering their lips to his cheek. "My you too make such an attractive couple."

It was true, when Nathan and Brooke stood together, they looked nothing short of beautiful. She was wearing emerald green, to match the engagement ring that hadn't left her finger since Nathan had placed it there one New Years Eve. Black tie events weren't the kind Nathan usually liked to dress for, but Brooke enjoyed the sight of her husband in a suit, especially when she was able to remove it later on in the evening.

But that wasn't enough to get her through the night, not when she saw _him_ enter. He always seemed to look a little untidy, a little rough round the edges. His hair was blonde and spiky and long. His clothes were a little less fitted and he always looked a little lost. But Brooke loved that about him.

"Lucas Scott!"

He received the same greeting as his brother and sister-in-law, his wife Haley, holding onto his left hand as he nodded somewhat shyly at the women flocking to where he stood, smiles at the ready, manicured hands poised to grab his arm.

Lucas had grown up in a small town too, and had married his high school sweetheart after graduation. Haley James Scott was beautiful, and Brooke couldn't help but love her. She was sweet and caring and completely old-fashioned, with a passion for literature, just like her husband. But loving her wasn't enough to keep Brooke from feeling the way she did about Lucas.

"Thank God." Lucas let his breath out as he and Haley caught up with Nathan and Brooke, the four of them forming their own group in order to find some kind of normality within the ball. "How long have you guys been here?"

"A few minutes." Brooke found herself answering with a smile. It was returned warmly, by the blonde-haired guy she knew she wanted more from.

-

They didn't have an excuse to feel the way they did about each other, not really. All Brooke knew was that she had fallen out of love with Nathan round about the same time she noticed Lucas acting differently towards her. Lucas was almost sure that he had fallen _in _love with Brooke round about the same time that she confided in him that she felt her marriage would soon be over if she didn't fight to save it.

"This place looks beautiful huh?" Brooke commented, sipping on her champagne as she inched a little closer to Lucas.

"Yeah, it does. But I can't help thinking it's such a waste."

"Why's that?"

Her eyes flickered over to Nathan, who was busy catching up with people he barely saw any more, and then to Haley, who gave a small, oblivious wave before turning back to her conversation with Nathan's coach's wife.

"They spend all this money decorating the place, when really, we could hold in it the street and raise even more money for charity."

"Lucas Scott, the good Samaritan." Brooke giggled, unsure as to whether it was just the champagne that was making her slightly giddy.

"I'm just saying, it's not a very well thought-out event." He replied, shaking his head with a small smile.

There was more general chatting among the guests, many keen to reacquaint themselves with the people they'd lost touch with over the years, some just meeting for the first time.

-

"Can I talk to you Lucas?" Brooke asked after Nathan had handed her the fur wrap she'd brought in order to keep herself warm in the late Autumn night air.

"I'll wait in the car." Nathan told her, dropping a soft kiss on her forehead before turning to leave, Haley deciding that she would accompany him.

"What is it?"

"I can't do this any more." She stuttered, biting her lip in between words. "Seeing you makes going home too hard."

"I can't not see you." Lucas almost pleaded. "Please Brooke."

Brooke fought the tears as she pulled the cream fur tighter around her body. "I told you I would do whatever it took to save my marriage."

"You're married to my brother, how can we not see each other?"

"I could be working, or shopping." She replied. "But this," she indicated the situation they were in, "It's all too hard."

"It would look suspicious." Lucas argued quietly. "You avoiding me. Don't you think Nathan would start to figure things out?"

"There is nothing to figure out Lucas!"

"We kissed Brooke!" He fought back. "How can you count that as nothing?"

"Because it was one kiss, one time, when you'd had too much to drink and I'd just had an argument with Nathan."

"It was a kiss we both wanted."

Brooke stared down at her dress forming a pool of green around her feet, suddenly seeming wildly inappropriate for that moment.

"We should go. Haley and Nathan will be wondering where we are." She said quickly, walking past him as though his words hadn't reached her.

"Brooke…"

"Don't Lucas, please."

-

And when she returned home, she was able to undress Nathan with military precision, falling beneath him as he routinely kissed her lips and then her collar-bone and then her breasts before slipping himself into her, their love making lasting only a few minutes before Nathan fell to sleep, leaving Brooke to ponder her relationships.

She wondered whether giving in to Lucas would help save her marriage, hoping that it would stir up the feelings she'd long since forgotten, at least towards her husband anyway.

Her fingers had dialled the number before she could even talk herself out of it, her heart pounding as _he_ answered the phone. Thank God.

It was when she uttered the words in staccato over the receiver that she felt a rush of relief. "I need to see you."

_It was the strictly confidential relationship that Hollywood couldn't discover, and the one he couldn't let go of. It was the same relationship that she'd fought for so long not to get herself lost in and much to Brooke's internal protesting, it had started to consume her, stealing her thoughts and occupying her time._

_She loved Nathan, and this didn't change that. He loved Haley, it didn't change that either. But Lucas couldn't deny that he was in love with Brooke. And she couldn't deny that her own feelings were beginning to mirror his.

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What do you guys think? Please review xxx 


	2. Lust

**A/N- **I appologise for the length of time this has taken me to post, but my internet hasn't been working, and once again, the review thingy seems to have broken on this website. Hope all of you had a great Christmas and New Year, a big thank you for all of your reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 2: Lust

"_If you knew what you were doing, you'd probably be bored." Brooke couldn't get that quote out of her head. She didn't know whether she was glad that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing with Lucas, or terrified that if she did actually work it out, her life would go back to the way it was. Either way, Brooke Davis was almost sure that what she was doing was wrong. _

As Brooke made her way down the street, doing her best to ignore the stalking paparazzi, everything seemed more magnified. Sounds were louder, lights were harsher, and her heart was beating faster. Or perhaps that was just fear.

Not fear of getting caught, but fear that _he _wouldn't be there. She'd come this far, and now Brooke wasn't sure whether she could handle Lucas not being there to meet her.

But he was, and when she entered the warm room, nobody but him turned to see her.

"Are we being unfaithful?" Brooke asked, thankful for the sanctuary of the small over-crowded diner where she sat, practically hiding behind the specials menu, across from Lucas.

"No." He replied quickly, as if to tell himself the answer too.

"Then what are we doing?"

"I don't know."

"Lucas!" Brooke exclaimed, "You're the one who started this."

"I didn't start anything." He protested quietly. "And you were the one who called me last night."

She raised a plucked-to-perfection eyebrow, unable to give him a worthy response, so instead settled on sipping her black coffee slowly.

"I should go."

"Brooke…"

"This is wrong Lucas." She pleaded. "From the start. Nothing should ever have happened."

"But it did!" Lucas replied gently, bringing his hand from his lap to place it softly on top of hers.

"Why are you doing this to me? And Haley? And Nathan?"

"Brooke…" He began again, only to be cut off once more.

"No." She snapped, snatching her hand away before reaching for her purse. "I can't do this."

And within seconds she was gone, fleeing past waiting paparazzi who were lucky to catch a glimpse of the teary-eyed actress walking briskly down the street, her hand clasped over her mouth, salty tears clouding her vision.

----

"Hey babe." Nathan met her at the door with a kiss on the cheek and a genuine smile. Hers however, was fake, and the reciprocating kiss was forced but convincing. She was an actress after all.

"Where've you been?"

"Shopping." She replied bluntly, brushing past her husband as she made her way into the living room.

"You don't have any bags." He laughed, suddenly cut off by an unanticipated response from the brunette.

"Are you saying I'm lying?"

"Brooke I was only…"

"Good." She smiled slightly, offering an apologetic 'sorry I'm just tired.'

"We should do something tonight." Nathan suggested, "Go for a meal, rent a movie and get take out…"

"Sounds perfect." Brooke silenced him with a kiss that she'd needed to give since the one she'd shared with Lucas. A kiss that told him she was sorry, and she was upset and that she loved him. But not a kiss that said she was _in love _with him.

----

It was only a few minutes into the film when Nathan's cell rung, interrupting Brooke's content state, a state where she didn't have the urge to call Lucas and tell him everything she felt. A state where she was…well, content.

"Right now?"

Brooke looked up at Nathan, as if to ask him who was on the line, but he shrugged, and offered her a small smile.

"Okay I'll be there."

"Do you have to go?" She pouted after Nathan hung up, doing her best 'stay with me' expression.

"It was coach, he's called a team meeting."

"But it's eight at night!"

"I'm sorry babe." He said softly. "I'll make it up to you. Promise."

And as he left, Brooke found herself biting her nails just to stop the anger consuming her. It was a woman's voice she'd heard on the end of the line, not Nathan's coach. She knew those jumpy signs all too well, and there was no way that he hadn't just lied to her.

"Meet me." She told Lucas before he could even say 'Hello.'

"Brooke?"

"Down by that little ice cream stall outside of the Grand Hyatt."

"Brooke are you o.k?" Lucas asked.

"Just meet me. Please."

----

He was stood, hands dug deep into his pocket as Brooke approached, the wind blowing his hair so that it moved slightly, the street light reflecting in his own highlights as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, nervously looking round for hidden paparazzi.

The situation almost made Brooke laugh as she realised she could easily play this character in one of her Hollywood films, every time able to leave her feelings at the door as she had make up on her face, wearing clothes that weren't her own as she portrayed someone else's life to the audience. Only this time it was _her _life, and those feelings she'd tried to let go of were only intensifying.

"I told Haley I wouldn't be long." He said quietly, hardly daring to look at Brooke who was biting her lip and shaking her head softly.

_Haley. _She'd almost forgotten that what she was about to do was wrong.

"I think Nathan's cheating on me."

"Oh Brooke…I don't know what to…"

"Kiss me." She cut in, not even waiting for him to respond before she pushed her lips up against his, closing her eyes as she felt his hands tangle in her hair, and then snake their way down to her hips, caressing the small amount of exposed skin.

It was Lucas that broke away, pausing to survey her state before making the judgement that she wasn't drunk or stoned.

"Are you…"

"Come back to mine." She said, widening her brown eyes as Lucas checked his watch.

"Is this what you want?" He asked warily. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

It was a tangle of bed linen as Brooke's screams of pleasure were muffled by the pillow, Lucas trailing hot kisses down her chest as his hands wandered over her skin, every fingertip leaving burning shivers in their wake.

It was when her body rocked underneath him that Lucas collapsed on top of Brooke, his breath shaky and uneven, the perfect match for hers. Wanting nothing more than to wake up in his arms, Brooke settled herself between them and his chest, letting her swollen lips rest against his smooth abs as she traced patterns with her own fingers, wishing that this was her everyday situation, and that the man she was in love with wouldn't have to go back to someone else.

----

Lucas was gone by the time Nathan returned, a grin plastered across his face as Brooke did her best to ignore the urge she had to scream _cheater _at him. Ironic seeing as she'd only matched his actions.

"Hey babe."

It was the same greeting he always gave her, the same two words that Brooke wished came from his brother when talking to her.

"Good meeting?"

"Yeah coach just wanted to discuss some tactics for the next game."

"Sounds good." Brooke mumbled, nodding as she forced a small smile at Nathan who was too busy removing his jacket to notice.

"So shall we finish the movie?" Nathan asked, bending down over Brooke's turned shoulder to kiss her softly on her cold cheek.

"I'm kinda tired." She whispered into the air as Nathan frowned, but shrugged her reply away.

Not too tired to have sex it turned out, as soon Nathan had removed her shirt and unbuttoned the size four jeans she wore. This time, she laid there, unable to will away thoughts of Lucas from her head, and as Nathan let out a grunt, and she acted out her own pleasure, Brooke had to shut her eyes to prevent tears from escaping.

In that moment, she knew she couldn't love Nathan any more, and the man who had her heart could only break it further. For weeks she'd told herself that what she felt for her brother-in-law was lust. But the desperate need to have him save her from a breaking marriage was too overwhelming.

In that moment, Brooke was certain she was in love with Lucas Scott: New York Knicks star, family man…and her husband's brother.

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Please review (and before you all start thinking I'm getting predictable...I assure you I'm not! lol) xxx 


	3. Betrayal

**A/N- **Thank you guys for your wonderful reviews, they really mean a lot. So this chapter is the build up to next chapter, which is by far, one of my favourite things I've ever written (for angst's sake mainly lol) which is why it's probably a little shorter than the other chapters. All I ask is that you please review at the end, so hope you enjoy! xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 3: Betrayal

The first thing Brooke Davis noticed when she awoke that morning, was her sticky face, traces of blackened tears where her mascara had run, tears she had cried over her husband and over Haley, and over the man she loved. She hadn't noticed the empty space beside her, and she hadn't acknowledged the fact that today was her birthday.

But Nathan (her husband and the same man that she was supposed to be in love with) had.

"Happy birthday Brooke."

She was met with a soft kiss, and a small cupcake complete with bright pink frosting and matching candle, lit especially for her.

"I…"

"You look a little out of it." Nathan chuckled, holding the small delicacy in front of her so that she could blow out the candle, grinning as he imagined her reaction to her gift.

"I forgot it was my birthday that's all." She smiled weakly, drawing enough strength the blow out the flame, letting out a small laugh of irony, as if she'd just blown out the flame she held for Nathan.

No. She shook her head to herself to remove those thoughts. Their flame had gone out long ago.

"Brooke Davis doesn't forget her own birthday!" Nathan chuckled, bringing his other hand out from behind his back. Holding out the small box, he planted yet another kiss upon his wife's lips before she took it from him.

"It's not jewellery." She stated, shaking the silver box and noting that something hit the sides. Jewellery didn't move.

"Sorry to disappoint." Nathan laughed, climbing back into their bed, the same bed that unbeknownst to him, his brother had made love to Brooke in, only hours ago. "But you've gotta open it to find out what it is."

"I know!" She replied, rolling her eyes. "I just like to try and guess what it is first."

Nathan frowned, and Brooke shook her head, not even expecting him to understand. It was a habit she'd had since she was a child, and she hadn't ever quit. Nathan maintained that it ruined the surprise. Haley always laughed and said Brooke was crazy. Lucas just smiled and waited.

"Tickets?" She questioned upon opening the lid.

"Are you going to guess what they're for, or are you going to look?" Nathan mocked, propping himself up against the pillow with the hand that had held the box.

"London?"

"You said you'd always wanted to go there."

"Nathan I…" She turned to look at the man watching her so intently and couldn't help but feel a stab of regret for her actions the previous night. "Thank you."

Smiling, he reached out to tilt her face more towards his own, whispering "Happy birthday," before kissing her lips and then her forehead and then her nose.

----

"That's where I had to go last night." Nathan chuckled as he watched his wife's reaction to her new car. "There wasn't a team meeting, I just couldn't think of what else to tell you."

And then Brooke's face dropped. Assuming her husband had been cheating, she had sought solace in another man, a man that just so happened to be her husband's brother.

"Nathan…" She whispered, tears of anger at her own rashness forming in her eyes. "This is too much…"

Nathan just laughed, kissing Brooke's forehead as he whispered, "You deserve it."

But she didn't deserve it, and the guilt that had always been at the back of her mind was now beginning to take over, yet her need to see Lucas was _still _there.

"I never got this good a reaction to a present before." Nathan mused, capturing Brooke's lips in a short kiss, blissfully oblivious to the real reasons why she was crying.

She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, and how lucky she was to be married to him. But none of those words would leave her mouth. She was an actress, these things were supposed to come naturally, effortlessly. Never before had Brooke been unable to lie.

But there's a first time for everything. Right?

----

"Happy birthday Brooke." Lucas whispered in her ear as Haley handed Nathan a drink in the kitchen, a couple walls away.

"He didn't cheat." She said simply. "He was picking up _my _new car."

"Oh."

"Oh?" Brooke hissed quietly. "That's all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?" Lucas asked taken aback.

"Aren't you sorry? Don't you regret it? Feel guilty?"

"No." He answered softly. "I love you Brooke, don't you get that?"

"But you're _married_!"

"I'm going to ask Haley for a divorce. I just don't feel the same way about her as I do about…"

"Stop it." Brooke told him. "Stop saying things like that."

"Why? It's the truth."

"What's the truth?" Nathan asked, entering the room with Haley, two light beers in his hand, one for him, one for Brooke.

"Um, that I'm going to miss you guys while you're in London." Lucas chuckled lightly.

"Dude, we're only going for a week!"

"Yeah, well I wanted to test out Brooke's new car." Lucas lied with ease. _He _could have easily been an actor. He was playing it so cool that it was beginning to make Brooke wonder whether he had cheated on Haley before.

"Sorry man, Brooke's car only." Nathan laughed a little. "It's going to be our family car."

Brooke's head snapped up as she let Nathan's words sink in. _Family car_? They'd discussed children, and he knew she didn't want any. They were too much of a responsibility and Brooke was almost certain she couldn't handle them.

"Family car huh?" Lucas asked. "You could have just bought a mini van. Would've been cheaper."

"I like to travel in style." Nathan laughed, swigging the beer from the bottle in such a way that it made Brooke want to scream. Catching Lucas' eye, she cast him a sad smile and a shrug, before telling Nathan they should leave in order to pack.

"I will miss you, you know?" Lucas told Brooke softly, Haley and Nathan absent as they had gone to look for some tourist guide she had bought when her and Lucas had taken a trip to London years before.

"We discussed children." Brooke said, seemingly ignoring Lucas. "I told him I didn't want them, I didn't want the responsibility."

"So just tell him again."

"He's bought a _family car_. That's like telling someone they can't have a puppy after they've bought the lead and the dog basket."

Lucas frowned at Brooke's comparison, but continued, "He can't make you have children."

"I can't have a baby with him." Brooke squeaked, close to tears for what seemed the millionth time that day. "I just…can't Lucas."

He could have resisted the urge to kiss her in an attempt to make everything a little better had she not looked him dead in the eye. But when he saw her legs almost buckle underneath her, her sad brown eyes telling him that she didn't want any of this, his lips captured hers involuntarily.

Pulling away a little, Brooke rested her forehead on Lucas'. "I'll miss you too. Too much."

"We'll tell them." Lucas said. "When you guys get back, I'll tell Haley and you can tell Nathan. Or I can tell him if you want."

She nodded slowly, forcing a smile as she wiped at the tears in her eyes, whispering an almost inaudible, "Okay."

_It would be the ultimate scandal if the press ever found out, Lucas and Brooke were well-aware of that fact. 'High school sweethearts torn apart by the woman who had once been America's own sweetheart.'_

_It was the ultimate betrayal, and Brooke felt guilty, deceiving, worthless as the wife of Nathan Scott. But even that couldn't stop her wanting Lucas, needing Lucas._

_It was just a matter of time before the repercussions of this soon-to-be public affair took their toll.

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Please review xxx 


	4. Accidental Babies

**A/N- **This is my favourite chapter so far, just 'cos it's nice and angsty-just how I like it lol. I haven't been getting many reviews of late, I was wondering whether the alert thingy is still off for some people?

I've found this chapter is slightly more powerful if you listen to Damien Rice's 'Accidental babies' (hence the title) Hope you enjoy it, and please please review at the end :)

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 4: Accidental Babies

_Well you held me like a lover:  
Sweaty hands  
And my foot in the appropriate place.  
_

_And we use cushions to cover:  
Happy glands  
In the mild issue of our disgrace._

His hands were on hers, holding, caressing, numbing, as he continued to silently plead with her; blue eyes boring into brown, tears forming, _never escaping._

"Lucas please." She tried to pull them back towards her, reclaiming her own limbs as he never once let his gaze travel elsewhere. Holding her eye contact was the only thing he had right now, and as Brooke Davis (his brother's wife, remember?) fought her own feelings, not to mention his, her strength was fading too fast.

"We agreed to tell them. We can explain everything, say that we never meant to hurt them, never meant to feel this way about each other."

"But we _are._" She stressed. "We're hurting them right now whether we tell them or not."

"Then why not get it over with?"

"Because _Haley loves you _Lucas!" Brooke's lip trembled with every word, with every formation of her mouth to tell him the woman he was married to loved him, just as much as she did.

"And I love _you_."

Shaking her head and consuming all of the energy she had within her, Brooke pulled her hands from his, holding them, trembling, against her tiny body. "You're married to Haley, and I'm married to Nathan. We're not married to each other."

"I love you Brooke." He repeated again, the words coming out of his mouth the only ones he could say with hope of the response he wanted.

"This has to end."

They weren't the ones he was hoping for.

"I have a movie to shoot and Nathan has play-offs, so I won't even be here."

"Is that the reason?" Lucas asked, running a hand through his hair. "Is that why you won't do this anymore?"

"No." Her tired voice gave him the answer, and as she opened her eyes after momentarily closing them, perhaps trying to block the situation out, perhaps just because she was so exhausted, Brooke continued. "It's because this whole thing was wrong from the start, and whatever we're doing now, this _thing_ between us, is only making it harder."

"Okay." Lucas whispered defeated. "Okay."

"I'm sorry I let it get this far."

He shook his head, hands reaching for hers once again. Brooke didn't pull back. "Can I kiss you? One last time?"

Her lips answered his question before she'd even had time to process the words, but her body showed her a suddenly-acquired bout of energy, her still-trembling hands fumbling for the belt around Lucas' waist. He lifted her slightly, her legs instinctively wrapping around his torso as she continued to let him assault her lips, and then her ear, and then her neck.

"I love _you _Brooke. I'm in love with _you._" He whispered again, softly laying the brunette down on his bed, the same one he shared with Haley. Her brown eyes were closed again, but even that wasn't enough to stop a tear from seeping out, slowly making it's descent down her face as Lucas hovered above her, poised to remove the last piece of clothing separating his naked body from hers.

She answered with nothing but the screaming of his name as she clenched her muscles around him that one last time, sinking her nails into his skin as a pleasure-filled, painful reminder of her presence.

_Our minds pressed and guarded:  
While our flesh disregarded  
The lack of space  
For the light-hearted  
In the boom that beats our drum. _

----

It had been a couple days since she had last seen him. They'd left without a goodbye and without an acknowledgement to what had just occurred between them. He wasn't stupid, he knew that she'd be returning to Nathan, and he'd hold her and she'd kiss him and act like nothing was wrong.

He'd go home and Haley would be waiting, not asking where he'd been because she trusted him enough to know that he couldn't ever hurt her. They'd married straight out of high school, when proposing seemed like the right thing to do. Lucas Scott and Haley James: high school sweethearts, the cheerleader and basketball team captain, the prom king and queen.

Only now, Lucas had realised that he'd proposed to Haley, married her in a small ceremony on a cliff overlooking the beach in their hometown, simply because it was the safe thing to do. He had a trial for the Charlotte Bobcats, and Haley had known him forever. She wasn't going to screw him over, so marrying her…well it was Lucas' safe card.

Sure enough, she had her apron on when he returned home, smiling at him as she asked him how his day had been.

"I'm kinda tired." He replied, leaving his jacket on the coat stand by the door as he made his way through to the kitchen, sitting down at the table where dinner was waiting. He had it all, he really did.

But Lucas wanted something more. He wanted excitement, he wanted to feel passion again, he wanted to feel _alive. _Brooke did that to him.

"We should talk." Haley told him, sitting down opposite with a mug of coffee in one hand, the other reaching for his.

"Okay…" He was unsure, anxious to see what she had to say.

"I want us to have a baby Lucas."

_Well I know I make you cry  
And I know sometimes you wanna die  
But do you really feel alive  
Without me?_

She sat on her bed and cried. For what felt like the millionth time that week, her mind was wandering to Lucas, and what their life could have been if she would only tell Nathan the truth.

But being afraid of his reaction, of breaking Haley and Lucas' marriage apart, (although somewhere inside of her, she knew her and Lucas had already done that) Brooke continued to stare into space, wiping at the falling tears every so often. There were too many coming for her to brush them away all the time.

_If so: be free. _

"Nathan I need to talk to you." It came out so shaky and quiet that even Brooke could hardly hear herself.

"What is it?"

She'd long removed the tears stains now, make-up removal wipes were good enough to rid her face of the black streaks.

Would Lucas want this? Would he hold her and kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay?

_If not: leave him for me. _

Clutching her hand tighter around the contents, Brooke pressed her lips together, parted them slightly, and closed them again, before finally answering.

"I'm pregnant."

Shaking his head, Nathan let out a small, malicious laugh. "I'm infertile."

_Before one of us has accidental babies.

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**Wierd A/N-**Okay guys, I know this is a really random question, but I was watching Laguna Beach the other day, and I noticed they say gnarly a lot. So if I was to say "Tyler is gnarly"- what would that mean? I don't think that word means the same thing over here in England...Anyways, please review lol xxx 


	5. Infidelity Goes Public

**A/N- **A major THANK YOU to everybody who reviewed last chapter, it really made me smile :) And thanks for letting me know what gnarly means lol, I'm not sure I'll ever use that word, but it's nice to know what it means. I'll take this oppertunity to advertise my other story 'playing for keeps' a 'play the game' sequel (because everyone loves a sequel lol) And that's about all I have to say, other than hope you enjoy this, and please review at the end! xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 5: Infidelity Goes Public

'**Brooke Davis Pregnant?'**

'**NY Knicks Star Nathan Scott To Become a Father?'**

'**Actress Brooke Davis To Play Mom For Real?'**

What was she supposed to do? Hide at home all day and not board the plane to Los Angeles where shooting of her new movie was supposed to commence?

Burying her face in her hands, Brooke shut her tired eyes as Nathan threw down the newspapers in front of her.

"Couldn't you have gotten one of your friends to buy your damn test?" Nathan fumed, running a hand through his hair. "Did you think the press just wouldn't find out?"

Brooke shook her head, biting her bottom lip so as not to cry.

"Who was it?" Nathan demanded. "Who's the jackass you screwed?"

"Nathan…"

"Damn it Brooke!" He shouted, slamming his fist against the wall. "How could you be so _fucking_ selfish?"

----

He'd seen the papers. Every single one of them. He'd rung Brooke's cell and she hadn't answered. He's rung the house phone, and there'd been no answer there either. This is what he'd tried to avoid. Too much sneaking around, too many lies and it had finally caught up with both him and Brooke.

And now she was the one paying for it.

"Do you think it's true?" Haley asked, wrapping her arms around Lucas as they both stared down at the papers covering the coffee table. "You think she's pregnant?"

Lucas shrugged. "I don't know. The press get it wrong a lot."

"But they're not answering their cells. Maybe they have something to hide."

"Haley!" Lucas interjected perhaps a little too abruptly.

"I'm just saying, it's not like Brooke and Nathan were happy. Maybe she had an affair."

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat as he fought his own mouth not to scream 'It was me' as Haley continued to make (correct) assumptions about Brooke and Nathan.

"You really think Brooke could have slept with someone else without the press finding out?"

"Well either way, I guess they're about to. Besides, it's not like Brooke and Nathan have been together for a long time. That's just what happens it Hollywood. Celebrities get bored and cause a scandal by cheating. She has got a new movie coming out…"

"I can't listen to this." Lucas muttered, pulling away from Haley before grabbing his jacket and storming out of the door. Brooke wasn't like that. She just didn't love Nathan anymore.

----

Brooke kept her over-sized sunglasses over her eyes the entire time that she was sitting in the departure lounge, and although it didn't stop the paparazzi from taking pictures, and the other travellers from staring, it made Brooke feel slightly more cut off from the rest of the world. Though in her mind, there was nothing she could do not to think of this baby, or of Lucas.

He'd called, too many times for her to count, and each time she'd pressed the red button with shaking hands, wanting nothing more than to confess everything to him and have him hold her and kiss her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

Although she knew things from now on were going to be anything _but_ okay.

She spent her time on the plane trying to sleep, all the while thinking of ways she could tell Lucas that she was pregnant with his child. It was unfair to tell him, and have him either have to hide it from Haley, or tell her everything, hoping all the while that Nathan wouldn't kill his brother. But Brooke had figured that it would be even more unfair to keep his child a secret from him, for Lucas to be oblivious while she made the trip to the private clinic, where they would give her the abortion she had to have.

Her goodbye to Nathan had been tearful on her part, not because she loved him and didn't want to spend the next few weeks in a different state, but because it had been the perfect chance to tell him everything.

But she just couldn't do it.

Basketball play-offs were coming up, and Nathan had to practise with the rest of the team. He couldn't accompany her to L.A, and Brooke was thankful for that. She'd promised that they'd talk when she returned, that _they'd _decide what _they_ were going to do. But Brooke already knew what _she _was going to do.

----

"Stop calling me Lucas!" Brooke hissed into the receiver, leaning her tired body against the door of her hotel suite.

"Is it true?" He asked. "Are you pregnant?"

Brooke dipped her head, figuring he must have seen the papers. Whispering an almost incoherent 'yes' she let a single tear fall silently from her eye, wiping it away almost instantly.

"It's mine isn't it?"

"What!?"

"I know Brooke." Lucas said softly. "I know Nate's infertile."

There was silence on her part for the next few seconds while she tried to process the fact that her husband had told his brother he couldn't have children, yet had forgotten to mention the same point to her.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah." She answered weakly.

"I'm coming to see you."

"No Lucas…"

"Haley thinks you might have had an affair."

She didn't know how to answer, and when he told her once again that he was flying out to L.A the next day, Brooke couldn't prevent herself from telling him the name of the hotel she was staying in. She didn't ask what he was going to tell Haley, or Nathan, or even their coach, who wouldn't let any team member be excused from practise. Right now she didn't care.

----

"Is Lucas at your house?" Haley's nervous voice asked Nathan, who had finally picked up his cell after Haley's numerous attempts at trying to call.

"No."

"Well have you seen him?" She asked impatiently.

"No I've…" Nathan trailed off, deciding against mentioning the fact that he'd spent all day avoiding seeing anyone for fear of the paparazzi discovering he and Brooke's secret.

"Never mind." She didn't give Nathan chance to ask whether everything was okay before hanging up. He was, however, glad of the brief conversation, of Haley not asking about the stories that were rife in the papers, or how Brooke was.

Haley on the other hand, was now frantically calling anyone who would know where Lucas was, in between redialling Lucas' cell number, praying that he would answer. When he did, telling her that he was staying with his Mom back in his home town in order to 'get his head straight' Haley pleaded with him to let her fly over there.

But after he stressed that he needed time on his own, a defeated Haley hung up, saying that she was sorry and that she'd miss him. Lucas told her the truth, (the truth being that it wasn't her fault) and told her he was sorry too, (which he was.)

----

She answered the door, knowing that it was Lucas, and before she could say anything, he took her in his arms, tracing patters across the brown shirt she was wearing, shushing her as she began to cry, telling him she was sorry, and that she never meant for this to happen.

Laying down on the huge bed, with Lucas' arms around her as he smoothed away her hair, Brooke suddenly felt a sense of calm. His lips were parted slightly, resting against her forehead as she shut her eyes, finally finding comfort with the man she knew she needed.

Kissing her way from Lucas' earlobe down his neck, she let her fingers caress his skin softly, her eyes still closed as she felt her way around his body, only opening them when he held her hands in his.

"We don't have to do this Brooke."

She shook her head softly, offering him a small smile. "I want to." She whispered. "I want _you_."

It was the slowest sex she could ever remember having, but Brooke enjoyed every second, keeping her eyes closed still as Lucas did the same, exploring her body with his lips and his hands, and searching for her lips to kiss when she did the same thing to him.

There wasn't a place on Brooke's body that Lucas left untouched, paying attention to every single detail before focusing on the small Chinese symbol that was inked onto her hip. She tasted like cocoa butter and sugar and honey all at once, and Lucas couldn't imagine not doing this anymore.

He couldn't bare the thought of his brother laying in the same position above her, and not giving her body the attention it desperately deserved, or the attention Brooke desperately needed. So for now, he put all thought of his brother out of his mind, continuing to nibble Brooke's neck softly as she pushed her body against him, her skin hot and enticing, her hair soft and glossy beneath his touch.

Her fingers were shaking with anticipation as she traced the pattern of his own tattoo delicately, not needing to open her eyes to find the outline. Moments later she found herself moaning his name against his shoulders, her fingers now tangled in the back of his hair, Lucas' own fingers massaging her breasts gently as he collapsed against her side, drawing her body yet closer to him as he revelled in the feeling of her ragged breath against his neck.

"I needed that." He spoke gently. "I needed you."

Resting his hand softly on Brooke's stomach, he felt her flinch slightly as her eyes opened, conveying the thing he suspected: she didn't want to keep this baby.

"I'm sorry." She said, knowing what Lucas was thinking. "I just can't."

"Because it's mine?"

"Because I don't feel responsible enough to raise a child."

"Don't you wonder what it would look like?"

"Lucas please…" Brooke said tiredly, begging him to stop their conversation before she found herself wanting this baby.

"I'm sorry Brooke. I just can't help but want _your_ child."

"I can't…" she trailed off, closing her eyes at the thought of raising him or her, of teaching them what was right and wrong, of loving something she'd created. "I'm sorry."

He didn't try and change her mind, he didn't tell her how since the moment he'd seen the papers, he thought about names and buying toys, and teaching their child to play basketball. Instead, Lucas lowered his hand to her leg, rubbing it softly as Brooke inched closer, resting her head against his bare chest.

----

They did the same thing for the next few nights, ending with a salvaging kiss before Lucas left for New York, and the life he'd been so grateful to leave behind, even if only for a couple days.

It was three weeks later when Brooke returned for a charity benefit, in possession of a new dress and shoes to wear, hoping that there would be no questions about her pregnancy and no congratulating Nathan on his impending fatherhood.

"You look beautiful." He told her, kissing her cheek softly. They no longer shared lip contact, and had failed to discuss their 'situation' due to the fact that Brooke had only arrived back in New York a couple hours ago.

"Thank you."

It was true; Brooke did look beautiful. Her dress was gold and swept the floor, and she had teamed it with a wrap, with her hair curled into soft ringlets. She was bringing back elegance and class, and the kind of opulence she had seen on old movies.

"Don't answer any questions." Nathan told her. "Not until we figure out what we're going to say."

Brooke simply nodded, unable to reply. She wouldn't have been able to answer the questions anyway.

And when they reached the hotel, hand in hand so as not to arouse suspicion about the state of their relationship, Brooke and Nathan dodged all questions, choosing instead to tell the press how great an event this was, and how much it would benefit the orphanage the money was being raised for.

But when Brooke caught Lucas' eye, only moments into posing for photographs on the small stretch of red carpet that had been allocated to the patch of sidewalk outside of the hotel, she felt Nathan's grip on her tighten.

'**Spark between Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott'**

'**Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis-Secret Lovers?'**

'**Celebrity Wife Swap?'**

Frowning between his brother and his wife, Nathan caught the fleeting glance exchanged between the two. It wasn't the usual acknowledgement they gave one another, and as Nathan forced smiles at the cameras, kissed Brooke and laced his fingers with hers, he finally realised what all of those hushed conversations he had interrupted so many times were about.

Brooke Davis (his wife who had promised to stay faithful) and Lucas Scott (his brother and team mate who wasn't supposed to screw him over) were having an affair. He had gotten her pregnant, and she was never going to admit that.

Pulling Brooke to one side as they entered the reception hall, Nathan hissed, "I know."

She looked him in the eye, unable to find anything to say, yet all the while confirming her husband's every suspicion.

"About you and Lucas. I know."

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Please review guys! xxx


	6. Illegal

**A/N- **Hola guys, sorry it's been a while since I've updated, I've just not had the time. But I finished this chapter just now, so I thought I'd post it straight away. A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, please keep them coming :) Enjoy this chapter xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 6: Illegal

_I tried so hard to be attentive  
Do all you wanted  
Always supportive, always patient  
What did I do wrong?_

_You don't even know the meaning of the words "I'm sorry"  
I'm starting to believe it should be illegal to deceive a woman's heart_

"He was with _her_ Haley." Nathan spat as he pulled Haley aside in the huge room decorated with ornate sculptures and heavily patterned fabrics, advertising the epitome of wealth.

"He was with Brooke."

"Nathan!" Brooke pleaded quietly. "You're wrong!"

Lucas exchanged a look with Brooke that even she didn't know what he meant. It was a mixture of guilt and of remorse and of love for a woman who wasn't his wife.

"Look man, let's not do this here." Lucas said roughly, rubbing the back of his neck as his blue eyes scanned the room for eves-droppers.

"So you're saying it's true?"

"Lucas and I weren't together." Brooke repeated.

Nathan looked between the woman, up until a couple weeks ago he had trusted more than anyone, and his brother, whom he could have never imagined to betray him in the way he had.

"You're lying."

There were too many flashes of cameras as both Scott families left the event, nobody holding hands as had always been the case, yet still displaying a unity that nobody else would be able to pick apart, at least for now.

The car ride was too silent as Nathan drove back to the house he shared with Brooke, the same house that she had cheated on him in, and the same house he could almost no longer bare to stand in. But he still drove there, the plain gold wedding band still residing on the fourth finger of his left hand.

"Get out." He told Brooke as she failed to remove her seatbelt after both Haley and Lucas had. Tears were seeping from her eyes as she fought with her own clouding vision in order to see the belt.

"Nathan I…"

"Save it."

----

"Why?" Nathan asked, turning away from the gathering on the couch to face the wall. "Why God damn it?"

Taking a deep breath, Lucas opened his mouth with the ability to tell his brother, and his own wife, the truth about everything. That he was bored, that Brooke had given him an escape, and even though she had persisted that they end things, he couldn't help but fall in love with her, breaking up two couples in the process. He was sorry, and he hadn't wanted to hurt anybody. But he didn't regret anything.

Yet none of this left Lucas' mouth. He couldn't form the words with his lips that right now, were aching to encase Brooke's, even if it was just for a few seconds. Instead, Haley, who up until now had remained silent, spoke Lucas' words for him.

"Look Nathan. I don't know why you think Brooke and Lucas have betrayed you, or me, and I don't know why you would make these comments," She paused, taking a look at the man whom she no longer felt respect towards, but disappointment, before turning her attentions back to the younger Scott brother. "But that night I called you, Lucas came home okay? He'd been visiting his Mom, and slept in my bed with me."

Nathan turned back to see Brooke's hazel eyes watering, the sadness in them clear even to him as he shook his head.

"You're lying and you know it."

"We have to go." Haley told him, grabbing her purse as she stood up, not looking behind to make sure Lucas was following her. She knew he would be.

"You'll be living a lie Haley." Nathan called to her as both she and Lucas exited the huge house, leaving a sobbing Brooke with only herself to seek comfort in now, her shaking hands resting on her stomach that held her baby, _her and Lucas' baby._

----

'**Scott Clan Make Hasty Exit'**

'**Brooke Davis Wows Crowds With New L.A Look'**

'**Trouble For Scott Family?'**

Climbing into bed seemed the natural thing to do right now, and as Brooke peeled back the Egyptian cotton sheets that she'd spent hundreds of dollars on, she still couldn't help but wish Lucas would be crawling in bedside her.

It wasn't Lucas though, but Nathan, too different in too many ways for Brooke to count. He didn't hold her the same way. He didn't kiss her softly, nibbling at her lower lip before running his tongue over the same area, the mixture of pain and pleasure almost too much for her to bare. He didn't smell the same or feel the same or sound the same as his breathing evened out, indicating sleep.

And for the first time since they'd been sharing a bed, Nathan didn't allow Brooke to undress him in the same way she always had. He didn't allow her access to his lips or his chest or his rough hands. Instead, all he left Brooke with was his turned back, a shock of dark brown hair and the outline of his muscular shape-definitely one of the plus points of playing basketball.

Brooke's mind wandered naturally, to Lucas, and what he might say to her if he were lying beside her right now. A tiny smile, a little spark of hope crossed her lips as she thought back to those uninterrupted nights in Los Angeles, the nights where they would just talk about everything, and those nights where their lips would do enough talking for a month's worth of normal conversation.

She hadn't decided to keep the baby that they had made together, and names or nursery decoration certainly hadn't entered her mind as yet. But abortion…that seemed too drastic, too permanent, too concluding of her and Lucas' relationship to really make sense as an option.

----

"Why?" He asked quietly, in a whisper voice that he couldn't seem to control. "Why did you lie for me?"

Her back was turned to him, a harsh barrier between the two of them as he asked for answers that he had no right to know. Walking away in silence, Haley returned a few minutes later, her face blank and devoid of any expression as she clutched at something in her hand, something Lucas knew he wouldn't want to see.

"Because I'm pregnant." She answered finally, holding out the stick for Lucas to take. But all he could do was repeat the words in yet again another whisper, over and over until he was no longer listening to them.

"Look at me." She said sharply, a stark contrast to her earlier speech. "I lied for you because I'm pregnant with _your _child. You're going to finish this basketball season and stay away from Brooke _fucking _Davis, and then you're going to leave."

Lucas stared at her, blinking only a few times before standing up as he ran a hand through his hair.

"C'mon Haley you're not…"

"I'm serious." She cut in. "I mean it Lucas I want you out."

"But Haley you're expecting _our _child!" Lucas stuttered. "I want to be there for you both."

She shook her head, a dry laugh escaping her lips. "You probably should have thought of that before jumping into bed with your brother's wife."

"Haley…"

"Do you think I'm that stupid Lucas?" She asked. "I called your Mom. She said she hadn't seen you since the last time we visited. Together. You were in L.A with Brooke and you didn't call once."

"Look, when I went to L.A it was because…"

He stopped at Haley's hand clasped tightly to her mouth. "It was you wasn't it?" She screamed. "Brooke's pregnant. You got her _pregnant_."

"I'm sorry." He offered, dipping his head. He wasn't ashamed of getting Brooke pregnant, he wasn't ashamed of anything he'd done with her, but at the same time, hurting Haley had never been part of his intentions.

"Yeah well getting your brother's wife pregnant while you're married to me needs more justification than 'I'm sorry.' You don't even know the meaning of that word."

It was when Lucas placed his hand on her shoulder that she let a single tear fall, angry with herself for showing signs of weakness.

"Get off me." She spat. "We might be married, but you don't get to touch me, you don't get to talk to me, and you sure as Hell don't get to be a part of this baby's life."

"Haley please." Lucas pleaded, his blue eyes beginning to fill with tears of remorse for his actions, and also tears for the broken woman in front of him, whom he still loved without a doubt, but had fallen out of love with too long ago to ever get that back.

"You sleep in the guest bedroom." She instructed nonchalantly before walking away, leaving Lucas to continue to stare at the wall in front of him.

_It was the beginning of the many months of Hell that were about to claim yet another victim of infidelity, of blackmail, of love for someone he could never have, not really. It was the beginning of the end for Lucas and Haley Scott: high school sweethearts, and the end of nothing for Nathan and Brooke.

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Please review guys xxx 


	7. No Resolve

**A/N- **A big thank you to all of those who reviewed last chapter (and over the entire story) because you're making me think about things I hadn't thought of doing. I hope this chapter shows you a little more from Haley and Nathan's point of view, because even though Brooke and Lucas are the main characters, the respective spouses are essential.

So I hope you enjoy, and please leave me a review at the end xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 7: No Resolve 

It was almost ironic that the sun was shining, that the leaves outside were glinting with the fresh light, their colour reflecting and illuminating the brown bark they had been placed so delicately next to by mother nature herself. Even the sunshine streaming through the bedroom window, _their _bedroom window, forming patterns on _their _bed wasn't enough to rouse Haley from the half-hearted slumber she was encased in, from the miserable thoughts filling her miserable existence that morning.

She could tell it was him when the door crept open, the soft shuffling of his weight from one foot to another echoing in the now empty room. It was empty, only metaphorically of course, because even though Lucas' money alone had paid for everything that furnished the huge space, Haley refused herself access to anything, for fear of demolishing whatever might lie under her soft skin.

"Can I come in?" He asked quietly, not needing her response to be a 'yes' before he made his way over to the bed, perching softly on the edge as she barely shifted her body a few inches. His hand reached out instinctively to stroke her hair, to reposition the few stray strands of golden brown that were lying across her face.

Suddenly remembering, Lucas was about to retract his hand, but Haley was quicker, turning her face away from him sharply. He cold say nothing: no apologising would be good enough or make amends enough for his actions, and even if Lucas did try to explain himself, she didn't have the capacity to understand how he was feeling anyway.

"Was I not good enough for you Lucas?" She asked suddenly, her voice cracking at being used for the first time that morning. It wasn't a question she wanted to ask, and it wasn't a question he was prepared for, but right now, Haley didn't care. If Lucas' priority while they were seemingly perfectly-married hadn't been her, she wasn't going to waste her priorities on him.

"It's not like that Haley."

"Then tell me." She whispered. "Tell me how you could cheat on me with Brooke. Tell me why all of those years of marriage suddenly meant nothing to you."

"They don't mean _nothing_." He protested.

"They just don't mean as much to you as shagging Brooke Davis."

His face creased up at Haley's choice of words, and she let a small satisfied smile cross her face at her choice of vocabulary.

"I just feel out of love with you Haley, it's not your fault."

"_You fell out of love with me_? What did I do to make you stop loving me?"

"I still _love _you Haley." Lucas said, moving a little closer. "But I'm not _in-love _with you any more."

"Because you're in love with Brooke?"

"No. Yes…"

"Make up your mind Lucas." She bit. "You might want to get your story straight before the press find out."

"I think we got married too young, I think…"

"That marrying me was a mistake?" She whispered, a silent tear escaping as the realisation that she would never be the woman he now wanted, hit her. She was unlike Brooke Davis in every way. Haley wasn't famous in her own right, she didn't exude power or wealth or fun. She didn't have a reputation of America's sweetheart.

Haley James-Scott was, on her own, just another person in a sea of normality, married into a life she'd never expected or truly loved. But she had always loved Lucas, and right now, even though he'd broken her heart, made her so angry that she could barely contain herself, gotten another woman (his brother's wife) pregnant, she couldn't help but _still _love him.

"It wasn't a mistake Haley," Lucas began, "but maybe I _thought _I was doing the right thing rather than actually _doing _the right thing. It was safe to marry you, you weren't like other girls."

"Then why now?" She asked. "Why after all of these years of marriage and girls throwing themselves at you, do you decide to cheat on me with your _brother's wife_?"

Dipping his head, Lucas failed to answer, rising from the bed at Haley's slight nod towards the door.

----

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this Brooke." Nathan told her as if she didn't know. "You weren't supposed to get _knocked up _by him, we were supposed to have a family together."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, tired of hearing her own voice repeat the phrase which seemed almost meaningless anymore.

"Are you keeping it?" He asked. "Are you going to have _his_ baby?"

Knowing that Nathan wanted a family more than anything was practically killing Brooke, and after all of those months of telling him she didn't want the responsibility of children, of raising them to be moral people, she could think of nothing more than what _her and Lucas'_ baby would look like.

"I don't know." She mumbled, the slur of words bordering on incomprehensible. But Nathan heard.

"You wouldn't have_ my _baby, yet you're not sure whether you want to have _his_?" Nathan spat.

"What does it matter?" Brooke returned sharply. "You can't even get me pregnant!"

"Get out."

"What? Nathan I…"

"You heard me." He said, turning his head away coldly. "I said get out."

"Where am I supposed to go?" She asked, lips trembling, a mixture of fear and new-found freedom at the same time.

Shrugging his shoulders, Nathan turned his body further away from her. "Go to his house. I don't care anymore."

Searching her husband for any signs of weakness, Brooke gave up upon finding nothing to exploit, but not before whispering to him, her last words in the house they shared together.

"You still care Nathan."

----

The press couldn't have timed it better. There were waiting outside of Brooke and Nathan's house, just hoping to capture at least one of them on film. Her large bag, packed with only one outfit and a few toiletries did nothing to dispel the growing rumours about the state of her relationship, and Brooke figured answering their questions about where she was going was pointless.

He'd seen it on the news: Brooke checking in to a hugely expensive hotel with nothing but a single bag and huge sunglasses (though the weather was now anything but sunny) to hide whatever expression she was wearing underneath them. She was alone, and Lucas could only imagine that she and Nathan had had probably the exact same conversation as him and Haley.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Go." Haley told him, suddenly appearing in the room as if she had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to state her presence.

"I don't want to."

She shook her head, shaky hands running across her own lips. "You're lying."

"Haley I…"

"Go see her." She said simply.

"If I go, can we talk about us when I get back?"

Haley tried to smile, but she knew if was forced, fake. "There isn't an _us _anymore Lucas. You and Brooke broke _us _apart the first time you kissed."

"There can be."

He didn't even know why he'd said it. A life with Haley wasn't what he wanted, not really. He wanted Brooke and he wanted _both _of his children. And that just wasn't going to happen.

"You're not coming back Lucas. You'll never _really_ come back."

He wasn't sure why she could say all of this to him, and yet not break down once. He didn't know how she was managing to stay calm, and not expose him to the media as the cheating bastard he was, (because he knew he was wrong.)

"I don't understand." He told her. "I don't understand how you can be like this, all calm and rational."

"You think it's easy?" She spat. "You think that I don't want to hit you right now? That I don't want to push you out of that door and then slam it in your face, or that I don't want to cry and break things and rip up everything that shows us together?"

"I…"

"It's because that won't hurt you." She said coldly. "None of that could _ever _punish you for this."

Lucas frowned, his blue eyes scrunching up in confusion.

"I have a better idea."

"I still don't understand." He admitted.

"You're going to watch _our _child grow inside of me. Each one of those scans is going to show it gain features that will make he or she look like us. And you'll never meet it."

"Haley that's not fair. This is my child!"

"And Brooke is Nathan's wife." She replied simply, her eyes locking with his for what would be the last time. "Besides, you're having a child of your own."

He waited until the tears in his eyes had clouded his vision so much that he could no longer see, before he wiped them away.

"Now go."

----

Lucas guessed that every paparazzi in the city was waiting outside of the hotel that Brooke was staying in, and as he forced his way past them, hands covering his anxious face, he could only hope that Brooke would talk to him.

It took several phone calls to her room before Lucas was granted access past hotel security, the concierge ushering him to the elevator before any more shots of a very broken Lucas could be taken.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered to her over and over before Brooke embraced him, the tears of too may emotions that she'd held in over the course of that one day cascading down her face. "I never meant for any of this I just…"

"It's okay." She whispered through salty drips. "It's okay."

She couldn't recall just when it was that they fell on the bed, his body covering hers as the need to be even closer to her took over Lucas, fumbled kisses on tear-stained lips, shaking hands on burning skin.

It wasn't what Lucas had come here to do, but now that he was inside of her, her hot breath a match for his own, nails pressing against his skin as heavy eyes, tired and encased in fatigue shut, he couldn't have imagined a safer place for either of them right now.

He wanted to whisper over and over that he loved her, that he wanted only her, and their child and the happiness he prayed would accompany their situation. But he couldn't. It was a lie, because though he did love her, and wanted her, and _their _child, he had an obligation. A duty and an uncovered love for his other child, the one he was expecting with his _wife_ who had no plans to allow him this.

So Lucas inched away from Brooke's exhausted body, almost ready to leave before she opened her hazel eyes, whispering,

"Please don't go."

_Lucas Scott wanted an 'us' with her, and their child and the life they could lead together. He wanted to have her in his arms, (much like she was now)_ _lips slightly parted against his sticky skin as her breathing evened, all memories of the day taken away, if only for a few hours, by unconsciousness. But he was wanting everything he could probably never have, not really._

_And as he looked down at the woman he was most certainly in love with, none of that seemed to matter, at least not right now. Brooke Davis was, (in the beginning) nothing he ever wanted, but as his hand grazed her stomach softly, Lucas knew that she was everything he'd ever needed._

_But still, even after all of the proclamations of want, of need, of love, there had been no resolve.

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Please, please, please review :) xxx 


	8. Ashes

**A/N- **A huge Gracias to everybody who reviewed last chapter, and I know some of you are getting a little annoyed that I haven't updated Playing for Keeps, but to be honest, I don't know where to take it right now. So I'm waiting until I have a decent idea, and then I'll update :)

Hope you enjoy this chapter-I'm thinking there might only be two more (but I'm not entirely sure yet) xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 8: Ashes

Lucas Scott knew that lying there with her, Brooke Penelope Davis, (a middle name he'd always found amusing, partly because it almost beat his for sheer embarrassment) shouldn't feel as good as it did.

He wanted to show guilt and remorse and utter disgust with himself for what he had subjected to Haley, but he just couldn't. He'd willed perhaps a few tears of compassion for the wife he never wanted to hurt, but they'd never materialised. Instead, his lips seemed to do anything to defy him, curling into the smallest of content smiles as Brooke's fingers twitched and her eyes fluttered almost open enough for him to see that glint of green mixed in with the brown.

And she was smiling too, a happy, only half-awake smile of utter comfort that Lucas couldn't have imagined better if he'd have tried. Their unborn baby still lay in doubt, just as Brooke silently did, about it's own future in the world that may not except it, a product of such unfortunate (on someone else's part) circumstances and mixed feelings that weren't able to gather themselves long enough for her to figure out what to do.

So right now, this very morning, where the weather was the total opposite as it had been the previous few weeks, Brooke could only focus on the now. And the now, was Lucas, hot body pressed up against hers as she fought for unused air below him.

"Morning." It was all he could mumble without his hands wandering to her stomach, that was flat and toned and everything she'd worked too hard in the gym for. She tried not to flinch, to not let thoughts of leaflets and conscience consume her as his fingers grazed the large amount of exposed skin. And it didn't work, and she had to shut her eyes tightly again just as Lucas sensed whatever it was that she was feeling.

"Please Brooke." He hated to have to ask her to keep the child that they'd made together (in one of their marital beds no doubt) and yet, it seemed the only thing right now that would convince her of anything.

"Lucas…"

She couldn't finish. She didn't want to finish. She had no idea what would leave her mouth and until the decision that she didn't want to make was, in fact, made, there would never be an answer to what would become his persistent begging.

----

Nothing was how she wanted it. Not the crib, not the stroller that was laid in pieces on the soft carpeted floor of the living room she once shared with the husband that had betrayed her in the worst way possible. But today was the first one in too many that Haley actually felt confident. And the small bump that had formed underneath the sweatpants she was wearing was proof enough.

It was the doorbell ringing that prevented Haley from reaching step 3 on the set of instructions she had received upon purchasing the changing table amid stares and flashes of photographers cameras, knowing all the while that this shopping trip would be splashed across the front pages of every gossip magazine in America.

He was the person she least expected to see, and was the most happy to find standing on her doorstep, hands dug into expensive jeans pockets as he kept his head down, almost waiting for any paparazzi that might come along and find him there.

"Nathan, come in."

He said nothing but offered her a small smile, the first he'd been able to give for the past few weeks that he'd had to endure seeing his wife with his brother, hand in hand or kissing softly. And all of these images had been seen by the rest of America too. Nothing was private now, not the feelings he had towards the two of them, nor the expression he wore whenever he had to leave the home he once shared with Brooke, nor the calls he'd made to his lawyer in order to claim everything that was ever theirs.

"How are you?" She asked, hoping the question would elicit something of a response, and upon receiving nothing but a shrug from the man she had to have sympathy for, Haley made her way to the kitchen to boil the kettle.

"How are you?" Nathan returned, appearing in the doorway with a questioning look, and a nod towards the separate pieces of materials strewn across the floor.

She shrugged but replied, "Okay I guess. Today anyway."

Nathan could only nod and wish that he was okay. He was beginning to wonder whether making Brooke leave was a bad decision, and contemplated telling Haley that every night he went to bed, he wished that Brooke would be occupying the space next to him, even if it was only with her back turned away.

But none of this left his mouth, and so when he took the mug from her small hands, Nathan gave her a grateful smile, and forced a laugh at the state of the living room floor.

----

He was reading the leaflets when Brooke returned to the penthouse apartment they were now renting. Lawyers had been called and both now had representatives, but knowing that their chances of gaining anything other than a car or half the c.d collection were very slim, Lucas and Brooke were focussing instead, on anything else.

"Lucas you have to stop this."

"At twelve weeks it already looks like a tiny person." He told her, ignoring what she had just said, and the way her eyes were watering as he continued to read on regardless.

"I told you, back when I was with Nathan that I didn't want children."

"And neither did I." Lucas told her, putting down the leaflet long enough to watch her hands force strands of shiny brunette hair behind her ears. "But it's different now."

"How?"

"You're already pregnant, and this is _our _baby Brooke. One you and I made together out of love."

"We made this baby out of an affair."

"I loved you." He half- shouted as Brooke carried on relentless. He knew that none of this was any good for her, or them, right now, but he couldn't let her make this decision alone and without any kind of informed judgement.

"And I loved you." She replied. "I still do. But it doesn't mean I can have this baby."

"Please Brooke." He begged for the second time that day. And it was beginning to become tedious.

----

"Pass me the long piece." Nathan told her, arms twisted as he held all kinds of screws in place while Haley tried to be helpful and do as he asked. It didn't work, and for the first time since this affair had begun, they both let out a real laugh, one that wasn't forced or fake or harsh against the throat.

"I'm making hot chocolate." She told him. "I'll be out of your way."

He didn't want to be doing this, not really. But there was no indication of him being able to build baby furniture in his own house, for a child that was his, (because there was no way that was happening, not now.) and the smile on Haley's face was enough to satisfy him for today. And if this was as good as it got for a while: helping someone else with a heart just as broken as his own, then Nathan was content with that.

He'd wanted to be okay. And as Haley handed him the mug of steaming liquid, he knew that's was things were.

It was hours later, when Nathan had managed to complete the changing table and the crib, freeing up plain carpet that had only been uncovered minutes ago.

"I should go." He told her. "It's getting kinda late."

Haley nodded, understanding that if they drunk any more tea or hot chocolate, things that just weren't meant to be might happen. And that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted a faithful husband and a sister-in-law that she could share everything with. But that hadn't happened and right now, being on her own was enough to suffice.

"Thank you. For everything today, you didn't have to."

"I know." He replied, softly, a smile curving across his lips as he surveyed the completed furniture that took way longer to build than was instructed. "I can do the stroller some time." Nathan offered. "If you want?"

"That would be good." She smiled. "Some time."

The hug he gave her was short and hurried and almost awkward. But Haley wanted nothing more from him, and as she promised more hot chocolate and ginger cookies the next time he came round, he wanted nothing more from her.

_Sometimes people use other's happiness to medicate themselves. Sometimes people can never really decide what they want, even if they force themselves to think every decision over and over until nothing means anything any more. Sometimes the company of someone in the same situation as yourself is everything you need, and other times, everything you don't._

_It was when she was lying in bed, watching Desperate Housewives (a show that was now nothing more than ironic to her) that Brooke came to her decision. She couldn't explain it and she didn't want to try. But the next year would be proof enough.

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Please review xxx 


	9. Baby We'll Be Fine

**A/N- **A big thank you to everybody who reviewed, and I'd just lke to say that the next chapter will be the last for this story. With no further ado, on with the story...

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 9: Baby We'll Be Fine

"_Expect nothing. Life frugally on surprise."-Alice Walker_

She wasn't supposed to cave, especially not now. And Nathan's face was making her feel almost too guilty. But there was some sense of closure in whatever this was now, and Haley could almost feel herself letting Lucas back into her life. Almost.

"He's beautiful Hales." Lucas whispered, a sad yet proud smile as he let a thumb pass over the baby boy's cheek delicately. This was his son, and yet nothing except the piercing blue eyes indicated that.

"Thank you."

The tiny boy (arriving over two weeks early and weighing substantially less than average) was content to lay in Haley's tired arms, cooing softly as the father he could never know, not really, beamed amazement over his creation.

Unable to leave this story alone, the media were camped outside of the hospital, and had gone into overdrive at the arrival of Lucas, whom they had learned, had had an affair with Brooke Davis (wife of Nathan Scott, Lucas' brother.) The story had never died down, not really. There hadn't been a chance before the paparazzi had discovered Haley's pregnancy, and then, in turn, Brooke's.

It was the way her over-sized sweaters fell around her that had given it away, and once the whole world (because nothing was private anymore) knew, it was a sense of relief and of minor acceptance for Brooke, who had been painted as the Angelina Jolie of this relationship.

And now, as Haley James (she had reverted back to her maiden name months ago) brushed stray strands of hair away from her face, she allowed herself to take in everything that had happened over the course of these six months. Her son, yet to be named, had arrived in the world amid rumours and gossip chaos that had done nothing for Lucas' confidence and everything for hers.

It was when he held him though, when that baby, _his _baby was in his arms for the first (and probably the last) time, the enormity of just what Lucas had done sunk in. He wasn't ashamed of that: his life with Brooke now was proof enough, but the disappointment in him was evident. He had given up a life with their son, and nothing would get that back, not now.

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Brooke could have predicted this. Nothing in her life went the way it was supposed to, not any more, and as that second contraction hit her, she had to let out an ironic laugh at her baby's timing.

After instructing Lucas to go and see Haley and her son (she wasn't stupid, she knew there was no way he could be a part of that boy's life, not really) Brooke had managed a morning of nothing but folding expensive baby clothes and eating chunks of pineapple, something she'd heard would bring on labour for overdue women.

Trying Lucas' cell, she wasn't surprised to find it cut straight to voice mail. Nothing surprised Brooke Davis anymore. So, griping onto the side of the couch for mere comfort, she waited.

"Samuel Nathan." Haley whispered softly as she handed the baby to a bewildered Nathan.

"Haley I didn't want you to name him after me I just…"

"It's the perfect name for my son." She told him. "I'd never realised until now."

"What about Lucas?" Nathan asked, referring to the brother he had to show some civility towards (for Haley's sake only) who was now fetching cups of coffee from the drinks machine in the waiting area.

"He is his father."

Haley nodded. "But he has nothing to do with us anymore."

"Then why…"

"Because when he's older, I can tell Sammy that I let his father see him, and that I gave him his last name. But he's not becoming a part of out lives, not now."

A small smile crossed Nathan's lips as he realised that Haley had been able to put this aside, at least for now.

"Samuel Nathan Scott." He cooed at the little boy. "I think it's a perfect name."

----

"Damnit Lucas." Brooke barked into the phone as yet another contraction took hold of her, reminding her that she was never ever going through this again. "I can't wait anymore."

And she was right. Every flash went off as Brooke was wheeled from the ambulance to the entrance doors of the hospital, her baby threatening to make it into the world without Lucas present.

Nothing was how Lucas had ever pictured it: his brother holding _his _son was almost enough to make Lucas want to turn back the clock to those months before any of this and before he realised he was in love with Brooke. But then his cell phone bleeped for the missed calls and Lucas could only cast a few mumbled words and a kiss on Sammy's head, he'd learned that name from Haley (it was what she'd always promised to call _their _child, and as much as that hurt the two of them, the promise was kept) before rushing down the hall in an ironic turn of events that were everything his life was made up of now.

All he was met with when he entered Brooke's room was an 'I'm sorry' and the soft gurgling of the baby in Brooke's arms.

But everything in that moment was perfect. The way Brooke's hair was swept messily across her face, the way she beamed at him, and the way she announced, "Meet your daughter Lucas."

He'd never cried before, not really. But he'd never felt like this before. And all Brooke could do was shake her head softly, the proud smile of a new mother plastered across her face (because she'd never for a second thought this was what she wanted) as Lucas took _their _daughterin his arms for the first time, allowing a salty tear to escape as he whispered, "thank you."

"This wasn't how it was supposed to happen huh?" Brooke said, fixing the loose strands of hair in a bun with a black band.

"I'm sorry." Lucas could only reply, still in amazement at the little girl's shockingly dark hair and green eyes. She was the perfect mixture of the two of them and right now, Lucas couldn't think of a name pretty enough to fit her.

"I know I was supposed to be here to hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be okay."

"But you were with your wife and your son." She replied, somewhat sadly.

"Brooke I…"

"It's okay." She smiled again, staring at the baby who had managed to drift off to sleep among her parents' acknowledgement of the situation. "Really. So how is he?"

"Honestly?" Lucas asked, "He's beautiful. Samuel. They call him Sammy for short."

"They?"

"Nathan was there." Lucas told her quietly, perching on the edge of the bed before Brooke managed to lift her body up to allow him extra room. "I didn't know whether to tell you."

Brooke shook her head, loose strands falling out all over again. "Nothing's right. But I'm glad you did. Tell me I mean."

Lucas nodded, pecking Brooke on the lips before looking back down at the sleeping little girl. "But there is something that's right." He said. "She is."

And as Brooke smoothed her cheek softly, she couldn't have agreed more. "We should name her."

"I like Kathryn."

"I like Aurora." Brooke smiled, knowing that they should have had this discussion weeks ago. There was no way she was naming this little girl Kathryn (she liked the name, but it just didn't suit their daughter) and she knew Lucas would never call her Aurora.

"Suggest something else." He told her, wondering whether there would even be a name perfect enough for this little girl.

"Lux?"

"Emily."

"Lyla?"

"Jessica."

"Can't you just like any of the names I do?" Brooke whined, prodding Lucas in frustration as she tried to recall any of the names she had ever liked.

"Ruby." Lucas told her, and for the first time that day, a long, overdue sign that something that had done was right came when the baby opened her green eyes to stare intently at Lucas, who, in that moment, had decided that whether Brooke liked the name Ruby or not, he was naming their daughter that.

"Ruby Gabriella." Brooke whispered. "We have to name her that."

"Ruby Gabriella Scott." Lucas smiled even wider. "How about that baby girl?"

_Nothing in Lucas Scott's life was as he'd ever imagined it. He'd needed the thrill of this excitement, of the surprises, of everything that he hadn't planned for so long. And now that it was here…well there was nothing he didn't expect anymore.

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Please review guys xxx 


	10. Green LightA New Chapter

**A/N- **So this is it! The last chapter! Thank you to **everybody **who has ever read and reviewed this story, you've really made it so worthwhile (I know I always say that but it's true) I have nothing else to ramble on about so I'll leave yout to read. Enjoy! xxx

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**A Public Affair**

Chapter 10: Green Light-A New Chapter

_"Start writing a new chapter, for if you live by the book you'll never make history."-Ben Sobel _

They should have known it wasn't right. That nothing coming from two broken relationships could produce a happy ending. Hollywood is like that. Real life isn't.

They didn't get married. She didn't want the paper and he didn't want to do that to Haley (he still loved her, that would never pass) because even the love he had for Brooke Davis wasn't worth throwing everything the two of them had ever had back in her face.

Ruby Gabriella Scott was the beautiful product of this public affair, and throughout all of it; the cheating, the lying, the desperate need for someone else to make him feel truly alive again, Lucas had never forgotten that.

It was September 2006 when it all began. When she realised that her marriage was going nowhere fast, and when he realised that he was in love with his brother's wife.

And it was September 2007 when it was all over. When the apartment was sold, she moved into a house in the suburbs, he moved into an apartment much like the one they'd shared together. Nobody expected her to give up a fledging movie career in order to be a full-time parent, but Brooke Davis was unpredictable.

They talked. Everyday. And not once had they argued, not once had they wished that this whole thing had never begun, because Ruby wouldn't have been there otherwise. Brooke was at a loss as to how she could have ever doubted her skills as a loving parent, because now, she couldn't imagine her life being worthwhile.

She'd known that not seeing his son was slowing killing Lucas, and as much as she loved him, and knew that he loved her, he had responsibilities to both children. She'd told him it wasn't working for her, to go be the father he needed to be to Sammy. Ruby and her would always be there. A chance to make things work with Haley wouldn't.

Lucas knew throughout it all, that she was acting. She was brilliant (every award showed that) but he could see through it now. And she convinced him anyway, through the hidden tears and desperate need to tell him that she needed him just as much (because she did, really) so he did as she wished. Though not once was he truly happy to be there. It was beginning to make him too tired, because he knew that he caused this, and he could never fully have what he wanted (it was selfish and unrealistic to believe that) but at the end of it all, he was Sammy's daddy (Ruby's too) and that's what mattered, now.

Haley had managed to let Lucas in, giving into the overwhelming desire to scream that he hurt her too much before, and that he could never be forgiven for that. But their son was their future now. Not together, not apart, but whatever relationship they had right now was working. But he could never shake that feeling of being in love with Brooke Davis (he still was, _always was_ really,) because even though it hadn't worked between them, there was that spark there. Perhaps they were wrong, and everyone else had been right. Perhaps he'd never really loved her, never really been in love with her. But there was something there that Lucas had never had with anyone else. And he missed everything about that.

Sammy was the same age as Ruby (only hours older and complete with the piercing blue eyes Haley had always imagined him to have,) but had never met his sister. That was too hard for Haley and as much as she wanted them to be a part of each other's lives, her heart wasn't strong enough for that. Yet.

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"Mommy!" The little girl squealed as Brooke caught her at the bottom of the slide, the light breeze blowing almost every strand of dark hair over her eyes.

"Brooke." She turned to see him standing there, blonde hair as long as it was when they had first met, blue eyes sparkling as he watched his giggling daughter.

They hadn't seen each other for a long time. They had spoken every day (years later and nothing had changed that) but loyalty to his son and Haley had kept him from being the father he'd always wanted to be. They'd never made it so that Lucas was forced to choose, and if he had, there wouldn't have been any other option than to leave this life behind him. Choosing between the two beautiful children he loved equally would have been too hard, so it was easier this way.

"Daddy!" She shouted, flinging herself into Lucas who was ready to catch her, smoothing her hair against the side of her face as she beamed at him, telling him everything he needed to know without a word. Ruby was fine with Brooke, she was better than fine. She was happy and smiling and everything Lucas had needed her to be.

"She looks just like you. She always has."

"I always hoped she'd have her daddy's eyes."

"How are you?" Lucas asked softly, releasing the little girl to the ground as she ran around her parents (the two people she had never witnessed together, not really) with arms outstretched, making plane noises as she went.

"I'm good."

"I miss you." He blurted, feeling the release at the confession he'd kept from Haley and from Brooke and from everyone who'd ever meant anything to him.

"I miss you too."

"I'm sorry to do this." Lucas almost whispered. "Again. I just had to see her. I had to see you both."

"I know."

"You're a beautiful little girl you know that Ruby?" He smiled at the little girl- _his _little girl.

"Mommy always says that."

"And she's right." Lucas chocked. Everything was too hard now, and as much as he wanted to, he knew it could never work between all of them, not really. "You're lucky to have a Mommy that loves you so much."

Brooke felt tears prick in her eyes as she watched what should have been her reality. She had no questions for Lucas, she knew all she needed to.

"I'm going to be a basketball player like you."

"I bet you'd be the best." Lucas replied with shaky breath, finally realising he wasn't who he wanted to be. He could never be that person, he hadn't let himself and now he was paying for that.

And as they walked side by side, Brooke with Ruby back in her arms, Lucas holding the small pink jacket loosely, she couldn't help feel a pang of sadness. They'd ended whatever it was between them and she now would have done anything to get that back again. Telling Lucas wasn't fair, and even if imagining him next to her at night was all she got, she'd take that. Because they had Ruby. And she meant everything to Brooke.

_It wasn't the life she desperately craved. But it was safe. They'd had the public affair, and they'd conquered the feelings of lust, of passion, of being so in love that they couldn't help but do what their heart was telling them to._

_Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Brooke and Lucas went through too many: lust, secrecy, desire, betrayal, love. They'd arrived at guilt and haste accidentally, and it had spelled the end for this public affair._

_But they were revisiting the most important of all now: love. And the green light was on again.

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Please review, and don't forget to check out my new story 'Bubblegum Cherry Pie' which I'll be posting some time this week._

Many thanks guys xxx


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